Let The Bodies Hit The Floor: Mets 3, Marlins 2

by Eric Simon on May 31, 2009 4:39 PM EDT

Another day, another couple of Mets players leaving mid-game due to injury. In this go-round, Angel Pagan was discharged from action after tweaking his right groin chasing down a Hanley Ramirez flyball in the fourth inning. The injury appears to have been sustained when Pagan quickly altered his path to the ball mid-stride, his face betraying the considerable discomfort in his crotchal area. He is being listed as day-to-day

The second casualty of the afternoon was John Maine, who called it a day after "feeling ill" following his seventh inning warmups. Maine had tossed a gem to that point, but was thankfully relieved by an ever-dominant Pedro Feliciano, who retired the Marlins in order in the seventh. J.J Putz was utterly inept again, allowing three baserunners in just a third of an inning, but Bobby Parnell saved the day by recording the final two outs of the eighth -- despite allowing one of Putz's inherited runners to score. Francisco Rodriguez struck out the side in the ninth to secure the victory -- of both the game and the series with the Marlins.

Wilson Valdez made himself useful in his first start with the Mets, drawing a walk and coming around to score in the third and laying down a perfect bunt for an infield hit in the seventh. Fernando Martinez picked up his third big league hit as well as his third big league RBI, while Omir "What's Done Is Done" Santos picked up yet another GWRBI!

Though they didn't face the stiffest of competition, the Mets took five of six on their homestand against he Nationals and Marlins, which is just what a good team should -- but often doesn't -- do. The injuries continue to pile up, but they couldn't have come at a better time as the Mets work their way through one of the soft stretches of their schedule. Now it's off to Pittsburgh for four before hitting the nation's capital for a three-spot.

Swag Contest

Swag contest results can be found here and the next game's swag form already available. You can read more about the swag contest here.

SB Nation Coverage

* Boxscore
* Amazin' Avenue Gamethread
* FishStripes Gamethread

Win Probability Added

Big winners: John Maine, +37.3% WPA, Francisco Rodriguez, +16.8% WPA
Big losers: J.J. Putz, -14.2% WPA, David Wright, -9.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Cantu LIDP in sixth, +18.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ramirez RBI single in eighth, -19.9% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +57.7% WPA
Total batter WPA: -7.7% WPA
GWRBI!: Omir Santos

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by PSUdevon; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.

Num	Name	# of Posts
1	PSUdevon	88
2	itsmetsforme	73
3	EMSfan9	72
4	Jadden Hopkins	62
5	MetsGeek	56
6	aparkermarshall	51
7	jasondg	50
8	AnthonyR	50
9	All Shook Down	49
10	squid92	49

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Comments

I was under the impression that Jon Srewart said something interesting during the game

but I didn’t catch it. Did he say anything interesting?

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 31, 2009 4:56 PM EDT reply actions

Sid Fernandez is fat, food at Shea was awful

More or less.

by jasondg on May 31, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

"Hey, Kevin, shouldn't we be watching the game?"

by Devon Edwards on May 31, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions

Nah just his normal one-liners

good stuff though

by meigs1414 on May 31, 2009 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions

As a Brooklyn Dodgers fan

he likes Citifield

by Mount17 on May 31, 2009 8:30 PM EDT up reply actions

Aside from Saturday, I'd say the homestand was a success.

They did what good teams are supposed to do, which is win against the NL East’s dead-end kids. Now if we could just send Redding away and bring up either Nelson or Niese, that would be great.

I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!

by R_Adragna on May 31, 2009 4:57 PM EDT reply actions

FLORES!!!

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 31, 2009 4:59 PM EDT reply actions

Him and marte seem to be struggling mightily

by Gina on May 31, 2009 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions

I feel like they're starting to show some signs

Marte had a few big games lately, and Flores seems to be adjusting too, but yeah they were not at all ready for Full Season level competition yet.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions

Ehh

They were ready enough. No purpose served by keeping them in short season to put up video-game numbers. Although Marte was jumped huge, straight from the GCL to A-Ball.

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on Jun 1, 2009 7:53 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, obviously it more less significant than Flores

But its incredibly rare to see 17 year olds put up numbers in a full season league. And even Flores, I’m not so sure he would have put up video game numbers. His contact skills and power were very impressive, but that just let him overwhelm Appy pitching without ever learning to take too many pitches (remind you of anyone?).

I’ll put it this way, I didn’t criticize the Mets for this decision, but I would have criticized them no less had they left the two teen sensations in extended ST and then let then moved them to Savannah when the short season leagues opened. And the only reason I’d have done that instead of letting them start in Brooklyn is to protect them from the masses and put them in a more Spanish language friendly environment without overwhelming them with the noise of the big city.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Not lately

Flores is starting to heat up. He just hit his 1st HR and has Kd perhaps twice in his last 20 games. Marte has no plate discipline whatever, but still flashes the power.

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 31, 2009 7:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Is "crotchal" a word?

by JoshNY on May 31, 2009 5:05 PM EDT reply actions

Yes.

Grission and Husart - that is either the non-union Mexican equivelant of "Starsky and Hutch" or the key to winning the World Series.

by IanB in MD on May 31, 2009 10:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Very happy with Parnell's performance

Also, I was very interested to see the clinical way K-Rod was setting up hitters and going after them. The WPIX Broadcast focused alot on K-Rod’s interaction with Santos and it was cool seeing their approach to the different hitters

by njmetfan12 on May 31, 2009 6:06 PM EDT reply actions

While its great that the Mets are doing well during this soft part of the schedule

Is anyone else a bit worried that once Beltran and Reyes come back, and we start playing some real teams, an occasional struggle might result in a second wave of “trade-the-core” media nonsense? I don’t think it will really mean anything, and considering I have faith in Omar not to do something absurdly stupid (just slightly stupid), I’ll certainly take the wins. But I am just anticipating some frustration.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 6:29 PM EDT reply actions

Don't go borrowing trouble

We get more than our share already.

by SupT on May 31, 2009 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

I hear ya

I just want the thought to be out there before it happens, so we don’t all freak out. I’m not complaining, just expressing caution, lol.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Not too concerned

It would be one thing if their replacements were performing … but they’re not. Other than a few solid games from Angel Pagan, nobody has really distinguished themselves at the plate over the last month, other than a few timely hits from [redacted] that have already caused this weekend’s panic trade. (I prefer not to state his name as to not incite a flame war.)

I think most media members are bright enough to notice the final scorelines of recent Met victories: 5-3, 3-2, 5-2, 6-1, 7-4, 2-1, 3-2. The common thread there is that the second number is quite low. Fact is, Met pitching has been outstanding. Four of the club’s starters have ERAs better than the league average, one of whom is among the league’s best. This is not to imply that the Mets’ rotation are world-beaters; beyond Johan, clearly they aren’t. But they have done the job this month.

If and when the injured players return, the offensive boost they provide will probably be countered by the inevitable decline our pitching will suffer. Hopefully it all evens out and the team continues to win, perhaps with scores closer to 8-6 than 2-1.

by Zwill on May 31, 2009 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll take 10-1

I will not allow the denigration of the life essence

by GenJackRipper on May 31, 2009 7:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I don't think that will stop the media from blaming things on the core

I mean it’s not like the core has given them any reason before to blame them, why would logic stop them now.

by Gina on May 31, 2009 7:21 PM EDT up reply actions

Exactly

I completely agree with Zwill that the pitching has been huge, and the major reason the Mets have done what they have in May. But the media isn’t going to look at the strength of the schedule the Mets have been playing against or the fact that their run differential in May is 0. The Mets are still underperforming third order wins, but they’re actually a little bit on the lucky side if you just use RS/RA now.

The media is just going to say like guys like Pagan and Santos and (heaven forbid) Ramon Martinez have brought the team a new level of grission that they didn’t have when they were relying on Carlos Beltran and David Wright to actually create a million runs.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 7:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Just a few editing for fun

The ~~media is~~ fans are just going to say like ~~guys like Pagan and Santos and (heaven forbid) Ramon Martinez~~ Wilson-“Exxon”-Valdez have brought the team a new level of ~~grission~~ defense that they didn’t have when they were relying on ~~Carlos Beltran and David Wright~~ Ramon Martinez to actually ~~create~~ prevent a million runs.

by Michkin on May 31, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha

Awesome

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions

flashback

this team is reminding me of the ‘69/’73 team. I keep expecting Ken Boswell to come through with the big hit. Those teams had some real bad to middling hitters (middling is being generous). Boswell. Weis. Garrett. Don Hahn. Duffy Dyer. Ron Swoboda. Grote and Harrelson. Art Shamsky was actually a real slugger in comparison. Now that team had….oh, nevermind. It had Seaver, Koosman, Ryan, Gentry, Matlack…

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 12:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Has anybody

already made the joke that the reason Wilson should be called “Exxon” Valdez is because of his slick fielding…..

by deadspy3 on Jun 1, 2009 4:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I'm with you

in that I don’t expect the NY tabloid media to understand simple things like run differential or strength of schedule. They will always find the easiest and most sensational angles b/c they think that such material will sell papers. They will rag on Wright, Reyes, Beltran, Johan and the other top guys with the same stories we’ve seen for the last three years.

On the other hand, during that time I can’t say that I’ve ever seen the campaign to trade the key guys on this team gain any traction outside of a fringe minority of media and fans. It doesn’t concern me that one day Omar Minaya is going to decide that David Wright isn’t a “winning ballplayer” b/c Mike Lupica said so and then trade him for Aubrey Huff and Jeremy Guthrie. The status quo will just remain: Wright will be booed on occasion when he strikes out and Beltran will be under appreciated.

by Zwill on May 31, 2009 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Fair enough

I can’t disagree with any of that. I just don’t want to be forced to listen to crappy national broadcasters talk about it when the Mets play Fox/ESPN games. Which at this point, is really just Steve Phillips.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions

He's on another level right now

Compared to even the McCarver/Morgan types. What have we got left w/him? June 28th vs the Yanks, which will certainly be brutal. A few weeks later at the Braves and then the raindate vs the Phils, which will be painful no matter which way the wind blows the next few months.

by Zwill on May 31, 2009 10:04 PM EDT up reply actions

Definitely

I actually watched some of the Cubs Dodgers today, and I didn’t even realize he was in the booth until like the 5th inning. It almost seemed like he wasn’t too oblivious to ignore the internet outcry against him. Morgan was still trying to put him in his place, but this time they were just arguing about nonsense when they got into it. It was pretty much:

Phillips: I like line drive hitters because I feel like its easier to teach them to hit for power later. Just look at Joe Mauer.

Morgan: I like aggressive pull hitter types, even if you can never teach them to change their approach they’re better anyway. Just look at Alfonso Soriano.

After what amounted to that back and forth somehow stretched over an entire half inning, I turned the game off.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions

I didn't catch much of tonight's game

in favor of the Stanley Cup but I did just catch the following opinion on Manny Ramirez playing AAA games:

“I think if you’re suspended, you’re suspended.”
-Joe Morgan, Analyst

by Zwill on May 31, 2009 11:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Ha, exactly

I forgot the best part about Stevie Boy’s shtick too. His whole hypothesis was that James Loney might turn out to be a better hitter than Matt Kemp somehow. Probably because Kemp is too much like Carlos Beltran, and I guess cause Loney’s a singles hitting first baseman with little power, who he explained could at some point have a Mauer-like power surge. I would never expect Phillips to do this level of fact checking, but Loney’s career LD% is only 0.1% higher than Kemp’s.

But yeah, apparently he’s not a fan of athletic center fielders who hit for average and power and play good defense and run the bases well.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 12:38 AM EDT up reply actions

loney/kemp

I prefer kemp, but loney’s k rate is half kemp’s. Kemp strikes out a lot.

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 12:44 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah but he also does basically everything else better

by a pretty big margin

by Gina on Jun 1, 2009 1:00 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah

that’s why I said I preferred him. Maybe steve imagines him growing some muscles. :) Anyway, career wOBA of .358 for Kemp to .350 for Loney and about the same age, so the discrepancy may not be as huge as we suspect, given loney’s banjo-hitting power. Kemp’s baseline babip seems a lot higher. Loney had nice minor league season 2006 and his first year maybe abnormally high in the majors. We all know Phillips hasn’t get the skeelz set not to be fooled by a nice batting average season fluke.

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 8:34 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

They’re career rates are actually strikingly similar in a lot of areas, much more than I’d have guessed. But the thing is, Loney has been trailing off at a pretty consistent rate for two years now. His wOBA in 2007 was .333 and last year it was .317.

I guess it means there’s still some upside left in that powerless stroke of Loney’s, which Phillips may be right about, but there’s absolutely no way any right minded GM would chose him over Kemp if given the choice of the two right now. It goes against every rational line of thought a major league GM is supposed to have.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

loney=kotchman?

Broadcasting is often used as a platform

by a former player/mgr/GM to get himself exposure and build towards a new position with a club. It’s one of the reasons that so many broadcasters are spineless and banal, afraid to offend anyone and harm their chances for future employment. On the opposite end, Phillips and his combative stances virtually guarantee that he will never work in a front office again. While his broadcasting is painful, our greatest loss in this scenario is that we will never have the pleasure of our club conducting trade negotiations with him.

by Zwill on Jun 1, 2009 9:12 AM EDT up reply actions

+1 for this

our greatest loss in this scenario is that we will never have the pleasure of our club conducting trade negotiations with him.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Actually I was way wrong about that run diff

I knew it didn’t look right, I’m not sure how I mad that confusion, its actually pretty good

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 7:45 PM EDT up reply actions

5 of 6 against anyone

is still pretty good when we’re playing a half scrub line up.

All of the mets fans hope that we will not see the bad news mets ever again.

by kendynamo on May 31, 2009 6:37 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah its definitely awesome

But you’re never as good and never as bad, ya know?

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Is it just me

Or has Maine returned to that 07 form. I know overall the pitching has been dominant of late…but I also know that before the season he was one of the bigger question marks on this team.

It’s good to see him back to meeting expectations.

by metsman07 on May 31, 2009 7:55 PM EDT reply actions

Agreed 100%

When Maine was getting roughed up a bit in April, someone posted a quote from Will Carroll from his Team Health Report, suggesting he thought Maine might struggle in April and then settle back into what he was before the bone spur. So far so good, and its quite encouraging.

I kinda wish the Mets could just let Maine and Santana pitch every time they face the Marlins.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 8:04 PM EDT up reply actions

So now I'm just someone to you.

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on May 31, 2009 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Haha my bad Sam!

I actually dropped your name in the gamethread since I hadn’t seen you around those parts in a while! I swear!

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on May 31, 2009 9:39 PM EDT up reply actions

hey

did you ever write those lyrics about santos? If so, please share, if so inclined

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 8:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Meddler inspired me in the Friday game thread

the mets catcher position
is in transition
with schneider we were screwed
but here comes the grission!

some may think it’s a silly superstition
but you could not deny the clubhouse tension
between jerry and ramon
so here comes the grission!

omir will never earn a big league pension
a .320 wOBA? that simply is fiction
he’s the next argenis reyes
but with ten times the grission!

by James Kannengieser on Jun 1, 2009 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

pretty good

can u work in the short swing?

It’s an interesting rhyme scheme. A A B A, A A C A and A A D A. Very free form.

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 11:30 AM EDT up reply actions

Rec'd

Melikes

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 2:14 PM EDT up reply actions

it's all because

The Emir of Squat, Mr. Santos, is framing his pitches now.

by wobatus on Jun 1, 2009 12:14 AM EDT up reply actions

I can appreciate more swings and misses from him

And he is actually setting up his slider really well. Was his changeup always this good or has he just recently developed it?

by metsman07 on Jun 1, 2009 9:16 AM EDT up reply actions

I think the latter

by Endys Game on Jun 1, 2009 9:53 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought F! got his third hit today

Didn’t he get two on one day? A single and a double?

by EMSfan9 on May 31, 2009 10:00 PM EDT reply actions

Third hit and third RBI, I believe.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on May 31, 2009 10:14 PM EDT up reply actions

I should add, however:

I fail to see what this has to do with the Castro/Santos debate.

(kidding, of course).

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on May 31, 2009 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions

This may have been said before

I found it interesting that when Gary was talking about all the regulars that were out of the line-up yesterday he mentioned Santos. I thought he was just a super-sub and had passed Castro as the back-up, but apparently he is the starter now. The highlight show prior to his first at bat was interesting too.

No night spent pantsless is a wasted night.

by sireric on May 31, 2009 11:14 PM EDT reply actions

So, if Pagan is out for a while

which seems likely, given that the guy is more fragile than a Star Trek redshirt, who can we call up from Buffalo/Binghamton to replace him? We’re pretty much resigned to calling up someone like Wily Mo, Brown, Sullivan, or Kielty, right? I know this is all hypothetcial, but when dealing with an Angel Pagan injury, one cannot at all be too cautious.

by BobbyV_Incognito on Jun 1, 2009 12:50 AM EDT reply actions

I haven't been following Buffalo, besides their terrible record

How are Sullivan and Kielty playing?

by metsman07 on Jun 1, 2009 9:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Kielty's been on the DL for a while;

Sullivan’s been recently hot with the bat but still OPSing under .700 for the season.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 1, 2009 9:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Oh, alright

Thanks

by metsman07 on Jun 1, 2009 9:33 AM EDT up reply actions

The recently acquired Emil Brown?

No night spent pantsless is a wasted night.

by sireric on Jun 1, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions

2 for 8 in his first two games.

"He's definitely mixing it into his repertoire. That's French for 'repertoire' " - Keith Hernandez

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Jun 1, 2009 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

I think we'll see him soon

With Pagan going down. I actually think this is something of a potential upgrade by accident. Reed and Pagan are basically the same player, its just said that this happened to the guy who was currently in a hot streak. But neither one could really hit LHP too much. Emil can, and he’s about as good defensively.

"All energy flows according to the whims of the great magnet

What a fool I was to defy him"

-HST

by Mark Himmelstein on Jun 1, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions